COUNCIL ‘LIED’ OVER PONTARDAWE SCHOOLS

A lot has been said, written and many concerns have been raised about the consultation of the proposed school closures in Pontardawe. Neath Port Talbot council recommended Alltwen, Godre’r’graig & Llangiwg primary school should be replaced with one large primary. With the bulk of the money to build the new school coming from the Welsh Assembly through their 21st Century Schools Programme.

It is an emotive subject, with strong feelings on all sides. There are many who despise the idea of seeing our beloved Primary school buildings being knocked down. Others who see it as a sign of progress within education.

Whatever your view is, I hope we can all agree that the desire should be for the community to have a fair discussion based on honest facts. The council’s inability to do this is a genuine threat to democracy and even to the existence of the borough itself.

Much has been made of the Former council leader, Rob Jones’ recording which led to his resignation and the delay in the consultation. However, the spotlight should have already been on many aspects within council records in the first place.

It was obvious to anyone who read the councils documents that things did not add up. The consultation was full of inaccuracies, exaggerations, and a trend to belittle the current schools and to glorify the prospects of a new one.

It seemed that those involved in constructing the consultation had already decided what outcome they wanted, and its purpose was to convince others to the same conclusion, regardless of the facts.

SILENCED

One issue facing transparency and what prevented further scrutiny early on was that many local people who understand education felt unable to speak out. Councillors felt that if they were to voice a concern then they may be judged to have a ‘predetermined opinion’ which could mean that they would be omitted from voting or speaking in later meetings.

Teachers and head teachers were fearful that they could not comment as it could tarnish their career. No council employee could speak out against this either. Essentially, we had an incredibly poorly written and misleading consultation and most local experts involved were unable to point this out.

GUIDLINES

If we backtrack to 2007, before the 21st Century Schools Programme was introduced. The Institute for Welsh Affairs recommended that “The consultation process between the Local education authority, governing bodies and parents needs to be of high quality. Contact needs to be consistent and frequent to allay fears. Concerns raised need to be listened to, acknowledged and addressed. Good planning and a clear vision of the outcome are required. There should be honesty and truthfulness from the local authority from the beginning of the process, and it needs to be sensitive to the needs of the children, parents, teaching staff and communities involved. The children and parents need to have a clear understanding of what is happening. There should be no hidden agenda. The process should be completely open and on the table. Joint ownership is essential, within an educational culture of ‘open-ness’ to new thinking and new ideas”.

As the Welsh Assembly went ahead with the 21st Century Schools programme, they set-out similar wording in their guidelines. There can be little doubt that our council have fallen a long way short of these instructions. The proposal was unclear, unrealistic and it is easy to see why there were concerns of the dangers which would arise with such a misleading document.

JEREMY MILES MS ‘KEY CONCERNS’

There are elements of the consultation which were so unclear that they raised concerns from Jeremy Miles. The newly re-elected MS sent this to the council back in January:-

“The proposal is for a school of 630 full time pupils and 140 part time. By my calculation the current total school rolls for the three affected primaries are 446 and 71 respectively.”

“These are projected to decrease slightly by 2024 when the new school would open, and the consultation assumes the three primaries would have 402 pupils in 2024, but also that the new school would have 587 if it proceeded (with an additional 7% surplus on top of that).”

“I would be grateful an explanation of the variance please and, if my analysis is correct, the rationale for why a school of 630 is proposed when the numbers of pupils in the catchment area is projected to be well over 200 fewer at the point the school would open in 2024.”

“Surely on this basis, the school could be significantly smaller and still provide surplus capacity? Concerns about the size of the school and its impact on pupil experience is one of the key concerns parents have raised with me.”

I do not know whether the new head of Education for Wales (Jeremy Miles) received a response to this or not but this is the reply which I had when I asked the council a similar question:-

DOCTORED FIGURES?

“The additional numbers are calculated from a combination of factors – the number of pupils who reside in the three catchment areas but attend English –medium schools elsewhere (224), and an estimated number to account for the other factors such as increased preschool numbers and new housing (30).”

“There are 107 pupils attending a number of English-medium schools outside NPT.

Within NPT 117 pupils attend Rhos, Rhydyfro, Bryncoch, Catwg, Coedffranc, Awel Y Mor, Blaenhonddan, Crynallt, Waunceirch, Maesmarchog, Gnoll and Tywyn.”

It is implausible for the new school to suddenly attract children who currently attend schools in Banwen, Skewen, Sandfields and every corner of NPT. The 117 Pupils added for this reason is a concern as it raises doubts to whether the council did have a hidden agenda. Were these figures deliberately doctored?

The latter figure for the 107 pupils attending schools outside of NPT is even more concerning. If you look at Pontardawe geographically, the schools near-by and the bordering counties then it is a fair argument to say that some pupils living in Trebanos (NPT) currently attending school in Clydach could attend the new school. You would not get anywhere near 107 pupils but there may be as many as a dozen. There is no other area where the council could realistically expect to attract NPT pupils who currently attend schools outside of the borough.

SCHOOL LOCATION

The real issue is that any gains would be swallowed up with huge losses. The population of Trebanos in the 2011 census was 1,411, many of the children here will already attend schools in NPT. At the other end of the valley, Ystalyfera had a population of 3,019. Godre’graig 1,644.

The new school would be further away for these pupils than their nearest school in Powys. More pupils will leave from one end of the valley than will be gained from the other.

There would not be 107 extra pupils which currently attend schools outside of Neath Port Talbot. There would be MORE pupils leaving Neath Port Talbot to attend school outside of the borough.

The reality is that the 587 number which creates the 7% is likely to be LESS than the 402 at the existing schools. It is suggested that a number closer to 350 would be more realistic as Godre’r’graig pupils opt for the closer school in Ystradgynlais (Powys).

FRAUD?

Saveourschools.wales (SOS) have been campaigning to save the existing schools and a spokesperson for them said “I will not hold back from calling this a blatant lie. One which is incredibly dangerous, one which goes deep within the council and one which should concern every resident in the borough.”

“The 7% surplus figure and the way that it is calculated is a complete farce and treats the public like fools. They lied. I’d also argue that it is fraud. If you lie and knowingly manipulate figures in order to obtain money then that is fraud. The council have done exactly that to try and get £20 million from the Welsh Assembly to build a school for a financial gain. If any resident did that then they would end up in jail.”

It is really difficult to look at these figures and believe that they are anywhere near accurate. A number of 350 would leave the surplus capacity for the new school at about 45%. This, as a business model would not receive the backing of the 21st Century Schools Programme money.

SUSPICIOUS MINDS

The issue which the Institute for Welsh Affairs realised back in 2007 is that when a council gets caught out with such exaggerated and unrealistic figures then suspicions run rife.

Parents in other schools look at these figures and wonder how the council would fill this surplus capacity? which schools would close? Is this premedicated as well? Is it all a part of a grand plan?

It would be difficult to exaggerate the suspicions towards the council right now. An increasing number of parents and residents believe that they have been lied to. Reading the documents, it is incredibly difficult to believe that residents have not been lied to. Trust has broken down between the council and parts of Pontardawe and the investigation in the wake of Rob Jones’ comments do not go far enough for many.

GODRE’R’GRAIG SCHOOLS CLOSURE

As I write this in the middle of May, Godre’r’graig pupils still do not know where their school will be in September. They currently have no cooked meals, limited breakfast club and no afterschool activities. There is an increasing belief that their school building (which offered all of these) was wrongly closed. That the council and its former leader deliberately closed the school to force this super-school through.

Some have always been suspicious of the school’s closure and its timing, (SOS) said “Rob Jones deliberately compared Godre’r’graig to Aberfan to get the headlines and to put fear into residents and parents in order to close the school. He knew full well that it was a false comparison, geologists and experts have said that it is a false comparison. No geology report has recommended closing the school, the residents next door to the school have been told that their houses are safe. None of it makes sense. They haven’t even done a good job with their lies, it is obvious.”

SCHOOLS FALSE COMPARSION

“The media knew (about the school closure) before the teachers and parents. It was designed by the council to be as hard hitting as it possibly could be. The Aberfan headline, the photographers and journalists outside the school capturing photos and videos of parents opening letters to find that their school was closing. It all added to the drama and the fear which they could use to fulfil their grand plan of a Swansea Valley Super-school.”

SOS says that an increasing number of parents are coming around to this belief. Partly because of the irregularities which we are seeing in the consultation but mainly because of that recording with Rob Jones where he stated his desire for ‘all schools to be 3-16’

“Not many people will read a hundred page Geology reports or a 50 page consultation document and actually check over the detail.” SOS said. “Those that have, realised that nothing adds up, but hearing the council leader specifically say that he wanted all schools to be 3-16 got that message through to all parents. It showed that the council wanted to close Godre’r’graig all along.”

RE-BUILDING TRUST

The council face a really difficult task in regaining trust in the Swansea Valley. The investigation will look into relations between council officers and Councillors and this is something which concerns SOS. “This isn’t just a councillor problem or a Rob Jones issue. This consultation document would have been put together by a number of officers employed full-time by our council. They must have known that there were falsehoods within it. The officer responding saying that children would attend the new school from Aberavon must have known that it was a lie.”

“It isn’t just Rob Jones. We are talking about a network of employees who are paid by our taxes to lie to us. Will the investigation be brave enough? As of yet, we are unaware whether the Godre’r’graig School closure is even a part of it, despite it being beyond obvious that there are serious question marks. There will not be any trust in the council until a full independent enquiry is launched into the way that Godre’r’graig Primary School was closed and the whole consultation of schooling in the Swansea Valley”.

CHAIR OF GOVONORS

The Chair of Governors for Godre’r’graig Primary School has also joined calls for an independent enquiry. (You can read the letter which Susie Davies sent into the council here). Failure to do this would no doubt damage relations between residents and the local authority further.

The next few months will be a great test for Neath Port Talbot Council. It seems impossible that the existing consultation can be salvaged and regurgitated. However, simply scrapping it will do little for public trust. The new leader of the council Edward Latham will need to work with residents for that. An independent enquiry into the school consultation and the Godre’r’graig school closure is a must. Its findings could seriously damage the council but the failure to have an enquiry could destroy either democracy or the NPT Borough council all together.

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